foundation in fact, whatever may be thought of the implied augury of
the special favour of the gods which is said to have been drawn from
it at the time. In any case, the picture of the strayed child,
sleeping unconscious of its danger, with its hands full of wild-
flowers, is pleasant to contemplate.

In his father's house, and in those of the Apulian peasantry around
him, Horace became familiar with the simple virtues of the poor, their
industry and independence, their integrity, chastity, and self-denial,
which he loved to contrast in after years with the luxury and vice of
imperial Rome. His mother he would seem to have lost early. No mention
of her occurs, directly or indirectly, throughout his poems; and
remarkable as Horace is for the warmth of his affections, this could
scarcely have happened had she not died when he was very young. He
appears also to have been an only child. This doubtless drew him
closer to his father, and the want of the early influences of mother
or sister may serve to explain why one misses in his poetry something
of that gracious tenderness towards womanhood, which, looking to the
sweet and loving disposition of the man, one might otherwise have
expected to find in it. That he was no common boy we may be very sure,
even if this were not manifest from the fact that his father resolved
to give him a higher education than was to be obtained under a
provincial schoolmaster. With this view, although little able to
afford the expense, he took his son, when about twelve years old, to
Rome, and gave him the best education the capital could supply. No
money was spared to enable him to keep his position among his fellow-
scholars of the higher ranks. He was waited on by several slaves, as
though he were the heir to a considerable fortune. At the same time,
however, he was not allowed either to feel any shame for his own
order, or to aspire to a position which his patrimony was unable to